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Newbie need to saw large poplar beams 4x12's

Started by Doug_D, August 06, 2010, 03:05:46 PM

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Doug_D

I just got the saw this past week and am now getting around to setting it up.  One of the first jobs I need to do is saw 4x12 poplar beams 15' long.  Any suggestions for a newbie?

i.e.  Box the heart, don't try to take it all on one pass, drink lots of beer, etc....


 
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terrifictimbersllc

Yes, box the heart, taking some lumber off on all sides as you approach the final beam, so if it warps you have extra left to saw out a perfect beam. 1" poplar is a great woodworking material.  Machines and planes very nice and takes stain well. good luck. 
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Corley5

Drink the beer when the sawing's done  ;) ;D :) :)
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carykong

I sawed 4x10 x 14' rafters for my home about 3 years ago. Yellow pine which is generally less inclined to warp than popular while drying. Did not center cut. Got some distortion while curing but was able to use most of the rafters. Resawed a few.  If you do not have the quanity for center cuts (center cuts can be knotty), I would,at least,consider going thicker.  Like 6x12? More width and thickness means less chance for warping,then again, more thickness means greater chance for checking and cracks in your popular.  Keep the drying process sloooo---w. good luck

Brucer

I generally cut any timbers 4" thick or less FOHC (Free Of Heart Centre). Right now I'm sawing the rafters for a huge timber frame house -- 4" x 12", 8' long up to 30' long :o. They're all FOHC so I get two rafters from each log.
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weisyboy

i did a 12x4 - 6.6m long last week ;D

in Australia we are not legally allowed to use anything under 7" square with heartwood in it for structural proposes, and the heart in timber over 7" square has to be in the middle 3rd of the piece.

i would cut 12 x 6s and resaw them to get them straight. but i dotn know how your timber moves
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Doug_D

I have got a lot to learn.  I tried my hand at sawing a couple of the beams yesterday and had a pretty good time.  A couple of things I found pretty frustrating was that the beam would want to rise when release about 12' feet into the cut.  I am cutting spruce and needed to go 16'.  I ended up locking the logs down pretty tight with the dogs, but that would mar the heck out of the wood.  Not sure it is wise to do, but I would put 1x stock in between the cant and the log dogs to prevent the damage.  I am sure with experience, this will get better.

I gotta say....owning a freaking sawmill is way cool! 
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Magicman

Quote from: Doug_D on August 10, 2010, 11:31:45 AM
I have got a lot to learn. 

Sawing beams and relieving stress in logs is a good teacher.  I'm not sure that everything can be learned, but it is fun trying.  Each log is a teacher unto itself.  Enjoy !!!   :)
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Todd Tittle

I've had poplar move on me too.  The advice I was given was to relieve stress evenly.  Take one or two boards off one side then turn the log/cant 180 degrees and take one or two boards off that side.  Keep working your way to your final dimensions.  This is more work because of all the log turning, but has worked for me.  Sometimes though, there are logs that no matter what you do want to imitate bananas. 

Todd

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